


Marquis de Lafayette and How he Impacted the Revoluntionary War

by croshekh



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: F/M, Gen, Nonfiction, Other, Research
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-08-10 10:15:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7840840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/croshekh/pseuds/croshekh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is my 9th grade research paper. I wrote it because I love Lafayette a lot. I'm posting this publicly because I'd like Hamilton and Lafayette fans to be able to read it and maybe learn something new. I'll post the bibliography somewhere at the end. I don't know if it's acceptable to cite my work in your own research report so if you need a resource, just visit the bibliography for resources.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Marie – Joseph Paul Yves Roch Guilbert du Motier, Maquis de Lafayette (1757 – 1834) was a French military leader who played a large role in America’s victory in the Revolutionary War. He was a tall fiery man with high status and a large adoration for American liberty (Boy’s Life). He devoted everything in his life at the time to join the rebels as well as risking imprisonment for disobedience. His connections through his wealth and his own personal excitement for the rebel leaders’ beliefs gave America a large boost that lead to their victory (UXL).

 

Early Life

Lafayette was born on the 6th of September 1757 in Chavanic, France. He never got to see his father who died at the Battle of Minden in the Seven Year’s War when Lafayette was only a year old. His mother was not usually around before her death when Lafayette was thirteen, but he had his grandmother and aunts. He had a Jesuit priest as a tutor and later attended College du Plesssis for three years. With a family tradition of military service, he decided to go to a military academy in Versailles. Lafayette became one of the king’s Musketeers in 1777. By the age of sixteen he was married to Marie Adienne Francoise de Noailles (UXL).

 

Going to America

In August of 1775, Lafayette attended a dinner party hosted by the Duke of Gloucester. The Duke spoke greatly about the rebel leaders in America. This made Lafayette very amazed at what was going on in the thirteen colonies and decided to go to America to join the rebels. He was not granted permission from the king to leave, but he went anyway. On April 20th of 1777, Lafayette set sail on the Hermione and arrived in Georgetown South Carolina on 13th of June. Their arrival was greeted by gunshots as the Frenchmen were thought to be Germans of British loyalty (UXL). When Lafayette met with Congress for the first time, he and the 14 other French officers that accompanied him were sent away (Thomas). But Lafayette was persistent and offered to volunteer. Having proved his compassion, he was made a major general (UXL).

 

Father George

Lafayette was probably the most popular Frenchman to come to America during the Revolution and had various nicknames (Boy’s Life). One of them was “the soldier’s friend” due to Lafayette’s close relationship with George Washington (UXL). To the orphaned Lafayette who never knew his father, George Washington was like that he never had. In an exchange of letters, the two once had, George Washington had stated “I am your affectionate and obedient servant” (Letters). General Washington saw Lafayette as an adoptive son and took pride in him as if Lafayette were his own. Washington was also very supportive of Lafayette’s ideas and valued his leadership skills greatly. When Lafayette was wounded at the battle at Brandywine Creek General Washington asked for his own doctor to “treat him as if he were my own son” (Boy’s Life). In the General’s eyes, Lafayette was very important which made him more popular in the colonies due to having a strong relationship with the General.

 

Lafayette in Action

During the revolution Lafayette took part in battles such as Barren Hill, where he was almost captured, Brandywine Creek where he was shot in the leg (UXL). His injury caused him to limp even after it healed (Thomas). One controversy in Lafayette’s military career took place when he was selected to lead an invasion in Canada (UXL). Invading a place that was French, but was loyal to the British really showed that American liberty was a higher priority than his social status. Being wealthy, he was still able to send letters to his powerful family and friends back in France (Thomas). These letters eventually lead to the treaty of alliance to be signed in 1778 giving America a large ally (Boy’s Life). This connection was Lafayette’s “greatest contribution” (UXL). Lafayette was able to gain lots of help and back up for the American rebels. He helped smuggle French weapons to America and when he went to France for money, he instead came back with whole troops that he commanded (Thomas and Encyclopedia World Biography). Those troops blocked Charles Cornwallis’ troops at Yorktown causing the British to finally surrender. Overall, Lafayette spent eight years of his life as part of the revolutionary war (Lafayette in the American Revolution). He also spent 83 million on the American revolution. He worked mainly alongside Rochambeau and Count de Grasse and he somewhat overshadowed their accomplishments with his popularity (Boy’s Life).

 

Returning to France and Later Life

After the war, he returned to France in 1785 and avoided mutiny even after disobeying the king (DISCovering Biography and UXL). He came back with intentions of bringing liberty to his own country, causing the Declaration of Rights of Man and the Citizen to be adopted. Lafayette’s military career did not last very long. In July of 1791 he retired after commanding his troops to fire at a mob during the time when riots were taking place in France (Encyclopedia World Biography). During Napoleon’s rein Lafayette was imprisoned for five years in Austria and escaped the guillotine. His wife, whose mother and sister weren’t so fortunate, fought for Lafayette’s freedom and even joined him in prison. Due to the harsh conditions Adrienne passed (Auricchio Kngof). After his release by Napoleon, he revisited America as a guest and received a 200 thousand American dollars and land from congress (Encyclopedia World Biography).

 

Death

On May 20th, 1834 Marquis de Lafayette passed away. He was buried in a cemetery in Paris with soil from Bunker Hill. The soil represented how Lafayette, the “hero of two worlds”, sees America as his second home (UXL).

 

 

Lafayette spent almost a decade of his life devoted to the American Revolution. During those years he used his own initiative to go to America to join the rebels for a cause that he strongly believed in. He used much of his own money and powerful connections to provide America with an ally that we still have today. Lafayette also utilized his skill as a military leader to win battles and finally corner the British at Yorktown making him one of the most important people in the Revolutionary War.


	2. Extra facts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> things left out of my research paper that were interesting.

Lafayette was a bad dancer according to Marie Antoinette.  
He was tall and had red hair.

**Author's Note:**

> Works Cited  
> All Things Considered. "Replica of Lafayette's Ship Re-Creates Historic Voyage to America." 4 May 2015. Web. 8 Apr. 2016.  
> The American Revolution. "Lafayette in the American Revolution." 1999. Web. 8 Apr. 2016.  
> The American Revolution. "Letters between Lafayette and Washington." 1999. Web. 8 Apr. 2016.  
> The American Revolution. "Lafayette Arrives in America." 1999. Web. 8 Apr. 2016.  
> Auricchio Kngof, Laura. "A Romantic in America." 20 July 2015. Web. 8 Apr. 2016.  
> Boy's Life. "An Unlikely Hero: One Secret to the Victorious American Revolution May Have Been a French Teenager. (History)." Jan. 2003. Web. 8 Apr. 2016.  
> Boyds/Calkins. "Castrovilla, Selene: Revolutionary Friends: General George Washington and the Marquis De Lafayette." Fall 2013. Web. 8 Apr. 2016.  
> DISCovering Biography. "Marie Joseph Marquis De Lafayette." 2003. Web. 8 Apr. 2016.  
> Encyclopedia World Biography. "Lafayette, Marquis De." 12 Dec. 1998. Web. 8 Apr. 2016.  
> The Historian. "Lafayette in Two Worlds: Public Cultures and Personal Identities in an Age of Revolutions." Spring 1998. Web. 8 Apr. 2016.  
> Smithsonian. "Winds of War." Apr. 2015. Web. 8 Apr. 2016.  
> Thomas, Evan. "When Opposites Attract; Washington and Lafayette Were Oddly Matched, but Joined Forces in the Great, Close-run Fight for Equality and Freedom." 3 Sept. 2007. Web. 8 Apr. 2016.  
> UXL Biographies. "Marquis De Lafayette." 2003. Web. 8 Apr. 2016.  
> Woman in America. "Letter from Marquis De Lafayette to Esther DeBert Reed." 1999. Web. 8 Apr. 2016


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